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No evidence of mermaids, says US government

There is no evidence that mermaids exist, a US government scientific agency has said.

The National Ocean Service made the unusual declaration in response to public inquiries following a TV show on the mythical creatures.

It is thought some viewers may have mistaken the programme for a documentary.

"No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found," the service wrote in an online post.

The National Ocean Service posted an article last week on its educational website, Ocean Facts.

Images and tales of mermaids - half-human, half-fish - appear in mythology and art from across the world and through history, from Homer's Odyssey to the oral lore of the Australian aboriginals, the service wrote.

The article was written from publicly available sources because "we don't have a mermaid science programme", National Ocean Service spokeswoman Carol Kavanagh told the BBC.

She said that at least two people had written to the agency asking about the creatures.

The inquiries followed May's broadcast of Mermaids: The Body Found, on the Discovery Channel's Animal Planet network.

The programme was a work of fiction but its wink-and-nod format apparently led some viewers to believe it was a science education show, the Discovery Channel has acknowledged.

NEW YORK (AP) — Snoop Dogg wants you to know that he’s tired of hip-hop, is Bob Marley reincarnated and is embracing reggae instead of the culture of guns he once rapped about.

Also, he’s got a new name: Snoop Lion.

The artist said at a news conference Monday in New York that he was ‘‘born again’’ during a visit to Jamaica in February and is ready to make music that his ‘‘kids and grandparents can listen to.’’

The former gangster rapper is releasing a reggae album called ‘‘Reincarnated’’ in the fall. He said that in Jamaica, he connected with Bob Marley’s spirit and is now ‘‘Bob Marley reincarnated.’’

Bob Marley’s son Rohan attended the conference and gave Snoop his blessing.

‘‘I feel like I've always been Rastafarian,’’ Snoop said of the spiritual Jamaican movement. While there, he said, he visited a temple, was renamed Snoop Lion and was also given the Ethiopian name Berhane, meaning ‘‘light of the world.’’

Snoop didn’t explain why he was switching from ‘‘Dogg’’ to ‘‘Lion,’’ but it’s likely a reference to the Lion of Judah, a religious symbol popular in Rastafarian and Ethiopian culture.

Later, he played five songs for a small crowd, including one called ‘‘No Guns Allowed.’’ It features his daughter and includes the lyrics, ‘‘No guns allowed in here tonight, we’re going to have a free for all, no fights.’’

‘‘It’s so tragic that people are doing stupid things with guns,’’ he said.

Snoop, best known for hits like ‘‘Gin and Juice’’ and ‘‘Drop It Like It’s Hot,’’ is an avid supporter of marijuana rights and has been banned from entering Norway for two years after trying to enter the country with a small amount last month.

He said that in Jamaica, where he stayed for 35 days, he grew closer to his wife, who saw his transition. He added that he’s excited to perform music that his family and children can listen to.

‘‘As a 40-year-old man ... I've got to give them something,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s what you do when you’re wise.’’

Snoop Dogg said he’s not completely retiring from hip-hop but is ‘‘tired’’ of the genre because it is no longer challenging.

The album was produced by Diplo and will feature Snoop singing. It will be released on Vice Records.

The album will be followed with a documentary of the same name, also produced by Vice. It features Snoop making music and will include some personal elements of his life, a producer of the film said. It will debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

In De Meern, Utrecht, The Netherlands, a man was found dead under his neighbor's house. He had a (illegal) cannabis growery and he had been found out, so the electricity company cut him off. He died while trying to steal electricity from his neighbors. Their floor had to be wrecked out in order to reach the body.

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